Cradlepoint Announces New Flagship COR IBR900 Mobile Router

The Cradlepoint COR IBR900 features an integrated LTE-Advanced cellular modem, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, two gigabit ethernet ports, and a USB port - all packed into a small rugged metal case designed to run off 12V vehicle power.

High-end mobile router manufacturer Cradlepoint has announced a new flagship mobile router with a very impressive feature set - the brand new COR IBR900.

On paper at least, this is the most advanced cellular integrated mobile router we have yet seen.

Cradlepoint describes it this way:

"With an embedded Category 6 modem for LTE Advanced, 802.11ac Wave 2 support, and a quad core processor, the IBR900 series is designed for the most demanding in-vehicle and M2M/IoT applications that require near-Gigabit speeds for both Ethernet and WiFi."

The catch is the cost - the COR IBR900 starts at $869, without any antennas included!

But for those looking to have just about everything integrated into a single (expensive) industrial-strength device, the COR IBR900 may be very well worth taking a close look at.

TIP: If you're not sure if you should even consider adding a mobile router to your tech arsenal, read our in-depth guide to understand the features and capabilities found in this category of products: Selecting a Mobile Router

To change carriers, just swap to a different SIM. And since you can keep two SIM cards installed (but only one active) it is easy to switch between your primary and backup network via the IBR900 control panel.

And with LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation capabilities, the IBR900 can connect to various combinations of two LTE bands simultaneously to turbo-charge download speeds in supported areas.

Future Proofing Cellular Standards

Cradlepoint's COR Extensibility Dock allows you to add a second integrated cellular modem, as well as two more non-gigabit ethernet ports.This dock may someday offer a path forward to Cat 9 LTE support.

Cat 6 LTE is awesome, but the newest high-end smartphones and consumer-grade flagship hotspots are now supporting Cat 9 LTE technology, with three channel carrier aggregation and support for peak theoretical speeds of 450Mbps.

Another downside for some - the IBR900 has no support for 2G cellular technologies, or Verizon/Sprint 3G fallback. This is hardly an issue in most places, but in some remote areas with old legacy cellular networks the IBR900 may be left hunting for signal. The IBR900 does however support fallback to T-Mobile and AT&T's 4G HSPA+ networks.

Fortunately the COR IBR900 has a USB port and can tether to many consumer hotspots - giving you a fallback option to support older technologies, and an upgrade path to support newer.

What is 802.11ac "Wave 2" All About?

The letters included in the Wi-Fi compatibility logo indicate which network standards are supported. But there is no easy way to recognize 802.11ac Wave 2 compatible devices.

Cradlepoint boasts that the COR IBR900 series is the:

"First LTE routers in the world to offer the latest generation “Wave 2” gigabit WiFi (802.11ac)"

Wave 2 is the clever marketing name for the next generation of 802.11ac products that support a few key advancements to the original 802.11ac standard.

Most importantly is support for MU-MIMO (multi-user MIMO), which uses advanced signal processing to allow the router to talk to multiple client devices at exactly the same time, rather than having them rapidly take turns.

Think of it like having two mouths and being able to hold two conversations at once.

Theoretically this can double speeds on your local Wi-Fi network since devices do not have to share the router's attention and two independent devices can be streaming away at once without any interference.

But... In practice MU-MIMO only works if the clients are in different directions from the router so that the router can aim different beams on the same channel in opposite directions.

And - MU-MIMO only works if BOTH the router and the client support Wave 2 802.11ac. And so far very few laptops, tablets, smart TVs, or smartphones do so.

And finally - in an RV the speed of the local 802.11ac network is very likely never going to be a limiting factor unless you are trying to keep an entire classroom (or commuter bus) full of bandwidth hungry streamers happy.

In other words, though Wave 2 sounds like a big deal, for most RVers there really isn't anything to get too excited about here.

But having the latest and greatest technology baked in certainly never hurts.

Should You Consider an IBR900?

You can buy the IBR900 with a set of two Wi-Fi and two cellular antennas, or you can use external roof-mounted antennas mounted on top of your RV.

Chris has been a full-time technomad since 2006, and currently splitting time exploring North America by boat and RV with his partner Cherie.
A lifelong geek, he was one of the founding editors of 'boot Magazine' (still going strong as 'Maximum PC'), and before hitting the road full time he was the Director of Competitive Analysis for mobile technology pioneers Palm & PalmSource.
Keeping up on mobile technology is a passion for him. Chris is one part of Technomadia (view their personal Mobile Internet Setup) and co-founder/host of the Mobile Internet Resource Center.

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